“Being a medium-sized enterprise brings some challenges in the field of innovation. How do you capture all interesting developments when you have limited resources in R&D? How do you know you are at the top of your field? That may sound like a real challenge, but actually: it is not.”
“As long as you open yourself up for collaboration. Of course we at The Compound Company do a lot of in-house technology development and new product development. But when we work on the technology of the future, when we respond to the needs of society in years to come, we are not shy to enter collaborations with either institutes such as Brightlands Materials Center, TNO, Fraunhofer, ECN, co-suppliers like we have on the Campus, customers and brand owners. Plenty of subsidies can be gained when embarking on these collaborations (and I advise everyone to check for options) but they are not the first reason to do this. And naturally this means also that you have to negotiate conditions, sharing of knowledge, discussing if and how to patent results and how to bring inventions to (joint) business. But it is possible. As long as you see the joint benefits, instead of only risks. And I have to say, being located on the Campus makes these kinds of collaborations a lot easier. It’s what I tell everybody who wants to join the Brightlands community.”
Meet & Greet
In this campus Newsletter we share Wouter’s future vision and business ideas, would you like to commend on them? You are invited to reflect and share your personal opinion with Wouter during lunch on Friday 6th of July, 12h @Fields of Gold, 1st floor Center Court.
No registration needed!
Wouter van den Berg
CEO Yparex, The Compound Company
